Publication frequency of AJASFR combines the advantages of both quarterly and continuous publishing models. With this approach, articles are published as soon as they successfully pass the rigorous peer-review process, are accepted, are thoroughly proofread and undergo meticulous copyediting.

Why Quarterly (Continuous) Publishing?

Traditionally, print-based journals were intended to consolidate research articles into specific topics, often distributed on a fixed date of publication. However, with the advent of online and open-access publishing, the landscape has evolved, offering new opportunities for immediate and broad dissemination.

This journal recognizes the need to adapt to these changes while ensuring the highest standards of research quality. Our quarterly (continuous) publishing model aligns with these needs by allowing us to:

1. Minimize Delays: Immediate publication of peer-reviewed articles means that valuable research findings reach the scholarly community without unnecessary delays.
2. Maximize Accessibility: Publishing articles continuously as they are ready ensures global access to the latest research without the constraints of traditional issue-based distribution.
3. Maintain Rigor: Our stringent review and editing processes uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity in the published content.
4. Efficient Dissemination: Continuous publication caters to the fast-paced nature of today's research environment, enabling researchers to stay current with the latest developments in their field.

We are committed to optimizing the dissemination of valuable research while maintaining the hallmarks of quality and credibility that define our journal.

Terms of Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and are only being considered by this journal. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that the article’s publication has been approved by all the other coauthors. It is also the submitting author’s responsibility to ensure that the article has all necessary institutional approvals. Only an acknowledgment from the editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt. Further correspondence and proofs will be sent to the author(s) before publication unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission that the authors permit editing of the manuscript for readability. All inquiries concerning the publication of accepted manuscripts should be addressed to editorial@afropolitanjournals.com.

Concurrent submissions

In order to ensure sufficient diversity within the authorship of the journal, authors will be limited to having three manuscripts under review at any point in time. If an author already has three manuscripts under review in the journal, they will need to wait until the review process of at least one of these manuscripts is complete before submitting another manuscript for consideration. This policy does not apply to Editorials or other non-peer reviewed manuscript types.

Copyright Policy:

Authors retain the copyright of their work, and all published articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. This means that authors grant this journal the right to publish and distribute the article under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that proper attribution to the original work is given.

Licensing Policy:

By publishing in this journal, authors agree to the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license, which enables the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction of their articles, both commercially and non-commercially. This licensing policy promotes the free flow of knowledge and encourages collaboration and innovation within the academic community.

Permissions:

The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations. The submitting author is responsible for securing any permissions needed for the reuse of copyrighted materials included in the manuscript.

While the advice and information in this journal are believed to be true and accurate on the date of its going to press, neither the authors, the editors, nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

AJASFR allows and encourages authors to deposit their pre-and post-prints in Open-Access institutional archives or repositories. All authors hold full copyright and self-archiving rights. Authors can archive their articles in open access repositories as “post-prints”. To digitally preserve all published scholarly content, the journal commits to submitting all its publication' metadata to PKP Preservation Network (PN).

All articles published in this journal receive a CrossRef DOI and are permanently available online. Afropolitan Publications participates in the CrossMark scheme, a multi-publisher initiative that has developed a standard way for readers to locate the current version of an article. By applying the CrossMark policies, the publisher is committed to maintaining the content it publishes and alerting readers to changes if and when they occur. Clicking on the CrossMark logo (at the top of each article) will give you the current status of an article and direct you to the latest published version.

AJASFR is committed to ensuring the originality and integrity of all articles published in its pages. Submission of a manuscript to this journal indicates that the study has not been published anywhere or not been submitted elsewhere for publication. If author(s) are using any part of a published paper (in English or any other language), they should give a proper reference or in any case, if required they should get permission from the previous publisher or copyright holder (whichever is suitable).

Plagiarized manuscripts would not be considered for publication. The journal strongly opposes the practice of duplicate publication or any type of plagiarism. The journal routinely screens article submissions for plagiarism. If found in any published paper after an internal investigation, a notification would be immediately sent to all the authors, their affiliated institutes and funding agency, if applied and subsequently the paper will be retracted. The journal also advises all authors to read and follow the COPE guidelines on how to avoid plagiarism and deal with plagiarism allegations.

AJASFR uses a double-blind peer review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process. All the submissions go through four steps:

All submitted articles are subject to assessment and peer review to ensure editorial appropriateness and technical correctness. In order for an article to be accepted for publication, the assigned Editor will first consider if the manuscript meets minimum editorial standards and fits within the scope of the journal. If an article is within scope, then the Editor will ideally solicit at least two external peer reviewers (whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors) to assess the article before confirming a decision to accept. Decisions to reject are at the discretion of the Editor.

Our Research Integrity team will occasionally seek advice outside standard peer review, for example, on submissions with serious ethical, security, biosecurity, or societal implications. We may consult experts and the academic editor before deciding on appropriate actions, including but not limited to: recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, assessment by additional editors, and declining to further consider a submission.

Afropolitan Publications remains neutral with regard to published territorial descriptions, maps, and author affiliations. All territorial claims are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, the publisher, the editors, or reviewers.

Details of all funding sources must be provided in the funding section of the manuscript, including grant numbers, if applicable. The publisher submits funding data to the Open Funder Registry, which is a funder identification service from CrossRef resulting from collaboration between scholarly publishers and funding agencies.

The publisher, Afropolitan Publications, referred to specific COPE resources, amongst the many ethics resources that are available, where relevant throughout these guidelines. All research submitted to this publication for consideration must have been conducted in accordance with COPE guidelines. The publisher reserves the right to reject any manuscript that editors believe does not uphold high ethical standards, even if authors have obtained ethical approval or if ethical approval is not required.

Conflicts of interest (COIs, also known as ‘competing interests’) occur when issues outside research could be reasonably perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its assessment. For more information, see our publication ethics policy. Authors must declare all potential interests – whether or not they actually had an influence – in a ‘Conflicts of Interest’ section, which should explain why the interest may be a conflict. If there are none, the authors should state “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.” Submitting authors are responsible for coauthors declaring their interests. Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editor and reviewers and included in the published article.

Authors must declare current or recent funding (including for Article Processing Charges) and other payments, goods or services that might influence the work. All funding, whether a conflict or not, must be declared in the “Funding Statement”. The involvement of anyone other than the authors who 1) has an interest in the outcome of the work; 2) is affiliated to an organization with such an interest; or 3) was employed or paid by a funder, in the commissioning, conception, planning, design, conduct, or analysis of the work, the preparation or editing of the manuscript or the decision to publish must be declared.
You may be asked to make certain changes to your manuscript as a result of your declaration. These requests are not an accusation of impropriety. The Editor or reviewer is helping you to protect your work against potential criticisms.
If you are in any doubt about declaring a potential conflict, remember that if it is revealed later – especially after publication – it could cause more problems than simply declaring it at the time of submission. Undeclared conflicts of interest could lead to a corrigendum or, in the most serious cases, a retraction.

Authors are required to make all materials used to conduct their research available to other researchers. Research materials necessary to enable the reproduction of an experiment should be clearly indicated in the Materials and Methods section. Relevant materials such as protocols, analytic methods, and study material should preferably be uploaded to an online repository providing a global persistent link/identifier. If this is not possible, authors are strongly encouraged to make this material available upon request to interested researchers.

Authors may appeal if they feel that the decision to reject was based on: i) a major misunderstanding over a technical aspect of the manuscript, or ii) a failure to understand the scientific advance shown by the manuscript. Appeals requesting a second opinion without sufficient justification will not be considered. To lodge an appeal, please contact the journal by email, quoting your manuscript number. Appeals will only be considered from the original submitting author.

Afropolitan Publications follows the COPE guidelines about complaints and appeals. If you wish to appeal an editorial decision or lodge a complaint, please send us an email, quoting your manuscript number, at (editorial@afropolitanjournals.com).

The journal publishing model is Open Access. Article Processing Charges (APCs) allow the publisher to make articles immediately available online to anyone to read and reuse upon publication.

APC for online publication is:

• N25,500 naira only ($30 USD) for Nigerian authors and
• $80 (USD) for international authors.
• A print (hard copy) is available at a fee of N10,000 naira only (postage and delivery charges inclusive) for Nigerian authors. Additional copies for co-authors are N5,000 naira only per copy.
• A print copy is $20-40 (USD) only for international authors depending on the postage charges to deliver the publication to their address overseas.